North America Automated Test Equipment - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The North America Automated Test Equipment market is expected to register a CAGR of 3.05% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on many markets, including the Automated Test Equipment market(ATE). Because of the strict lockdowns imposed due to the virus's quick spread, the ATE market suffered in terms of output. In terms of demand, the IT & Telecom segment's regulated demand, particularly in the other half of 2020, maintained the market for ATE goods afloat in 2020. Working remotely has resulted in increased demand for connectivity and IT products, which has boosted the demand for automated test equipment.

Key Highlights

• In the coming years, the expanding usage of highly integrated electronic components such as System on Chip (SoC) and FPGAs and the high demand for consumer electronics will drive the ATE industry forward. Furthermore, the shrinking and complexity of today's electronic components will increase the scope of ATE applications.
• Several North American governments are implementing new track inspection criteria to increase the operational efficiency of railway activities. For instance, in August 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DoT's) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) presented to the Federal Register a final rule stating the use of ultrasonic inspection technology enabling railroads to perform continuous rail testing activities, which updated with GPS technology.
• The rapid advancements in semiconductor manufacturing processes, together with the rise of connected devices in the nations and the growth of the Internet of Things network, will propel the automated test equipment market forward for the forecasted period.
• When a project expands, the regression testing becomes uncontrolled - the pressure to handle the current functionality changes, previous working functionality checks, and bug tracking.

Key Market Trends

Aerospace and Defense Industry is one of the Factor Driving the Market

• Aerospace and Defense drives innovation in new markets and pioneered technology development in North America. Design engineers in this field are pushing the envelope to advance technology and construct better defensive systems. As a result, research and development teams encounter new obstacles daily.
• For instance, In July 2021 Spirent Federal Systems, one of the prominent providers of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) test solutions, has been chosen by BAE Systems to offer a CRPA Test System to support M-Code military GPS technology development. BAE Systems is producing an advanced military GPS receiver and advancing the capabilities of size-constrained and power-constrained service GPS applications, including precision-guided munitions and handheld devices. Spirent Federal is uniquely equipped to provide essential test equipment and assistance to pursue resilient, accurate PNT data in GPS-degraded Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) conditions.
• One of the most significant advantages of automated testing in the aerospace sector is the low additional cost of repeating the tests. There are various types of failures that infrequently happen, sometimes less than 1% of the time. If a test method is only run once, it will never reveal these flaws in the system.
• Industry partners and government institutions such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are already working on Advanced aerial mobility (AAM) technology, and industry participants are focusing on securely integrating AAM into regular commutes around the world.
• Furthermore, This revolutionary mode of transportation can cause a total paradigm change in mobility.2021 could see more players entering the AAM market and an increased number of OEMs advancing to piloting and testing phases, paving the way for commercialization. This will drive the automated test market in the region.

United States is observing Significant Increase

• In the United States, three states, in particular, are leading the way in process automation: Boston, Detroit, and Austin. These have emerged as the country's foremost robotics hubs. When considering Boston, in the context of robotics, Boston Dynamics outdid themselves when they made their humanoid robot, Atlas. This will boost the automation test equipment market.
• Back in June 2020, Cytiva upgraded its Massachusetts contract biomanufacturing site with increased capacity and automation technologies. The company highlighted the same aligning to a trend of biotechnology companies increasingly outsourcing their manufacturing. More than 70 percent of the clinical trials planned for the US in 2020 are expected to be Phase I and II, with over 50% of companies outsourcing at least some bioprocessing and 19% outsourcing more than half. The company upgraded Fast Trak CGMP facility utilizes a Figurate automation platform and can serve this growing need from small to mid-sized biotechnology companies.
• Corning and Verizon have installed a 5G Ultra-Wideband service in Corning’s fiber optic cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, United States. Corning will use Verizon’s 5G technology to test the application of 5G to enhance functions, such as factory automation and quality assurance, in one of the most extensive fiber optic cable manufacturing facilities in the world.
• The growth of control valves and actuators that offer low emissions and reduce automation costs. For instance, Clarke Valves, a US-based valve provider, offers Shutter Valves, API 641, and ISO 15848 certified to reduce emissions up to 98%. The valves have been automated tested in the field to prove that emissions are typically eliminated to 0 ppm.
• Though being very conservative, the industry has understood that the in-line analysis provides enormous benefits over the laboratory analysis of grab samples. The value of a real-time and continuous measurement at process conditions is more than periodic analyses of samples taken hours before. Therefore, may no longer represent the real-time information about anything going on at the process side.

Competitive Landscape

The North American automated test equipment market is partially consolidated with the presence of numerous players manufacturing various products in the market.

• Dec 2021 - Leading semiconductor test devices supplier Advantest Corporation has launched a new high-speed CMOS image capture module for its T2000 test platform that enables highly parallel, 64-site testing of both D-PHY and C-PHY devices for the rapidly growing smartphone market. The new T2000 4.8-Gbps CMOS model capture module, known as the 4.8GICAP, is intended to efficiently transfer data from CMOS image sensors (CIS) to the T2000 tester’s high-performance image processor engine (IPE). It is the first mass-produced analysis solution to achieve a maximum data rate of 3.5 Gsps for advanced C-PHY version 1.2 devices and the industry’s fastest capture speed of 4.8 Gbps for D-PHY version 2.1 devices.
• Apil 2021 - Combining more than 30 years of development of the PinPoint Circuit Card diagnostic system with industry-standard PXIe technology, the P3-PXIe identifies failures down to the component level. It can test a variety of mixed-signal products with the flexibility of PXIe. The PinPoint 3-PXIe is a next-generation circuit card diagnosis and test system from Astronics Corporation, a global producer of innovative solutions for aerospace, defense, and other mission-critical industries (P3-PXIe). The P3-PXIe combines more than 30 years of PinPoint Circuit Card diagnostic system development with industry-standard PXIe technology to identify defects down to the pin level.
• May 2021 - Major Taiwanese EV Power Supply Company Adopts Chroma's HIL Testbed. The proportion of electronic and electrical systems used in the automobile business is continuously increasing, as is their impact on its safety, as advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) technology matures. If the electronic system fails, it could result in an accident, putting the car and its occupants in danger. Automotive electronic goods have a long development cycle, which necessitates substantial testing costs and hazards. Manufacturers are still concerned about how to ensure that the product development process meets applicable safety standards. The ISO 26262 hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test verifies the electronic control system's functionality, communication, and system integrity.

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